Democratic Reform  Mr. Speaker, that is the kind of mistake that happens when the NDP gets its information from reading the newspaper instead of reading the bill. The fair elections act has similar confidentiality provisions to those that exist already in Elections Canada's policy. That being said

Democratic Reform  Mr. Speaker, she might consider consulting the facts. The proposed paragraph 510.1(2)(b) states: The Commissioner may disclose or may authorize any person acting under his or her direction to disclose ...(b) information that, in the Commissioner’s opinion, is necessary to ca

Democratic Reform  Mr. Speaker, I just quoted the section of the fair elections act that would enable the commissioner to disclose all details of an investigation when he decides to do so. However, also in the fair elections act we are requiring that something called a “compliance agreement” be ma

Democratic Reform  Mr. Speaker, the fair elections act would keep everyday Canadians in charge of democracy by putting special interests on the sidelines and rule breakers out of business. It would close loopholes to big money, crack down on fraudulent voting, and bring in jail time for political i

Business of Supply  Mr. Speaker, one of the measures in the fair elections act deals with the loans loophole. That is the loophole that allowed Liberal leadership candidates to take hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt from large donors and then to exceed the donation limit by refusing to repay

Business of Supply  Mr. Speaker, on the member's comments with respect to campaign finance, the fair elections bill seeks to allow small donors to contribute a little bit more to democracy through the front door while blocking illegal big money from sneaking in through the back door. It closes the u

Democratic Reform  Mr. Speaker, the fair elections act does do the right thing. It puts everyday Canadians in charge of democracy by putting special interests on the sidelines and rule breakers out of business. It closes loopholes to big money, ends fraudulent voting, and makes it easier for law-ab

Democratic Reform  Mr. Speaker, voters can already use any of 39 forms of identification accepted by Elections Canada. In addition, the fair elections act will require Elections Canada to inform voters about the pieces of identification needed to vote in an election. Yes, voters need more informati

Democratic Reform  Mr. Speaker, in the recent Henry v. Canada decision in the B.C. Court of Appeal, the court found that the requirement to prove identity and residence before voting was justified as a reasonable limit on voting rights under section 1 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

Democratic Reform  Mr. Speaker, Canadians have been heard and they will continue to be heard as we move forward with the fair elections act. However, moments ago, the Leader of the Opposition was complaining about the exemption of fundraising calls from the spending cap. In fact, under section 435

Democratic Reform  Mr. Speaker, I think I have demonstrated right before them that I am prepared to face their disagreements on the floor of the House of Commons. Unfortunately, their disagreements came before they even read the bill. It is important for them to understand that, in particular, this

Democratic Reform  Mr. Speaker, I actually do not think that there was a question there, but I think the question he was about to ask is why would his own party be against exempting fundraising calls from spending limits, when in fact his own party did just that in the leadership that he ran in and

Democratic Reform  Mr. Speaker, Canadians have spoken. They have asked for a bill in the House that would keep everyday Canadians in charge of democracy by putting special interests on the sidelines and rule breakers out of business altogether. That is why we have brought forward the fair election

Business of Supply  Mr. Speaker, I hope he knows the difference, because the reality is that his own party announced its opposition to the fair elections act before even reading it. I am not sure how New Democrats could know the differences between the status quo and the act without reading it. Let

Business of Supply  Mr. Speaker, I thank the member for an informative discussion and his thoughtful critique of the bill, as I do thank his Liberal counterpart. Both of them are tough and smart critics. I find it interesting that the person the member cited as an example for the need to have cross